China to Industrialize Sea Ice Desalination Technology

SeaDiscovery.com

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

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China will soon begin production of large amounts of fresh water through the desalination of sea ice, through an agreement reached between a university research team and a Chinese company, reports Xinhua.

The research team from Beijing Normal University signed the sea ice desalination technology transfer agreement with Beijing Huahaideyuan Technology Co. Ltd., and the company is expected to be able to produce at least 1 billion cubic meters of fresh water annually by 2023, Xinhua reports, citing comments by Yu Jian, executive president of the company.

The salinity of sea ice is between 0.4 percent to 0.8 percent, much lower than that of sea water, which stands at about 2.8 percent to 3.1 percent. After desalination it is 0.1 percent, which meets the national standard and the water can be used in agriculture, by industry and for drinking, according to Professor Gu Wei, head of the research team.

China's sea ice desalination program started in 1996 when Shi Peijun, a professor from Beijing Normal University, realized that low saline ice could ease the water shortage around the Pan-Bohai Bay area in north China, after desalination.